This invention relates to motor cycle carriers.
The invention to which this problem is generally directed is the cost of manufacture of carriers suitable for carrying parcels and such-like on motorcycles.
The problem is not so much one of the cost of manufacture of a carrier as such, but rather that associated with having to make for the end user a carrier suitable for one particular model of one particular type of motor cycle.
The problems here are enormous.
Those who are familiar with this art will understand that there many hundreds of differing models of motor cycles of the dozens of differing makers and that it has been conventional practice to tailor-make each carrier so that this will fit appropriately on one particular model of one particular manufacturer.
The cost here is firstly that a specific jig must be made and then some number of carriers must be manufactured which are then supplied to the various stores who must then take stock of each of the carriers for a large number of the models and makers. There is some hope that any particular retailer will be holding particular stock in one model of one maker.
It will be well appreciated firstly that retailers will be most reluctant to stock large numbers of carriers simply because of the capital investment involved. Secondly where these carriers are of the fixed side support type, the space requirements involved are great. Finally, the problem that any of the carriers may not be popular and there is an investment involved in stock which can easily become very dead.
There is the further problem, that for the manufacture of such carriers, it can hardly be justified to provide mass production techniques such as moulding, where the sales of that particular carrier are going to be limited. While separate fabrication of each carrier is relatively expensive, substantial capital cost otherwise necessary for mass production is not required and hence this has been generally considered to be the only feasible way for manufacture of such carriers.
The problems of the cost of carriers, the cost of inventorying carriers presently made, and the difficulties of supply will therefore be obvious enough. There are of course further difficulties when one attempts to overcome this problem, in that any carrier that must be designed has firstly to be able to be made strong enough to support substantial loads and yet at the same time be of good appearance when secured to a motor cycle, and perhaps almost as important, to enable the carrier to be used on the bike for a long period of time without mechanical deterioration.